A Friend No Longer
by William Logan
Summary: Set after "The Stuff of Villains," the Brotherhood discovers what life is going to be like from here on out with Pietro in charge. Rating for implied profanity. (Please R&R!)


Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution and all related names belong to Marvel Entertainment, Inc.  
  
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"A Friend No Longer"  
By William Logan  
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In the Brotherhood Boarding House, Lance, Todd, and Fred were hard at work trying to make the place look like something resembling an orderly home. So far, it looked like more of an organized disaster area. Fred was picking up the various debris spread across the floor, from pizza boxes to socks and unmentionables. Lance was dusting vigorously and Todd was vacuuming the floor. The three of them had been working the entire day, and were quite tired. Meanwhile, Pietro had his feet up on the coffee table in the living room watching TV.  
  
"And I thought Lance was bossy," Todd groaned as he switched the vacuum cleaner off.  
  
"What was that, Toady Boy?" Pietro said, glancing up at the green skinned teenager.  
  
"Hey," Fred interrupted, "aren't you going to help us at all, or are you just gonna sit on your butt all night while we do the work?"  
  
"I'm doing research, Fred. Magneto taught me to always be watching the news for signs of trouble, so you can keep one step ahead of the competition," the quickster rattled off matter-of-factly.  
  
"Somehow I doubt Magneto watches Britney Spears shaking her thing on MTV Music News," Lance grunted.  
  
"Hey, Magneto is certainly no stranger to the high arts!" Pietro protested. Everyone else just grumbled and went back to work. Lance bent down in front of the TV to dust off the wooden stand it sat on. Out of the corner of his eye, Pietro caught glimpse of a small pink piece of paper sticking out of Lance's back pocket, the letter Kitty had sent him. He zipped off of the couch and nabbed it, grinning as he raced back to the couch with lightning speed.  
  
"Hey! Give that back!" Lance shouted, spinning on his heel. His eyes filled with fury and he leapt at Quicksilver, although by the time he got to the couch, Pietro was already on the other side of the room.  
  
"Oh, my... you broke up with Kitty? How sad!" He dodged Lance yet again, this time moving behind the couch, "Well, this simply won't do... mementos from the enemy!" Lance stalked towards Pietro, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Fred and Todd just watched in horror. In the blink of an eye, the letter was nothing more than tiny pieces of pink confetti. Pietro smiled cruelly at Lance, then turned his head to look at Todd.  
  
"Hey, we're going to need the vacuum cleaner ov---" he never got to finish his sentence as Lance's fist connected soundly with Pietro's jaw, sending the white-haired mutant tumbling backwards. The ground began to tremble all around the Brotherhood pad as Lance's fury grew higher. "I'm going to let you get away with that," said Pietro, rubbing at his jaw, his eyes filled with rage, "just because you're my friend."  
  
"You're no friend of mine, you traitorous sonuva..." He pulled his arm back to take another swing at Pietro, but his arm was intercepted by Fred's enormous hand.  
  
"Such language," Pietro clicked his tongue rapidly, "shame on you! Tell me, do you kiss Kitty with that mouth? Oh, wait...."  
  
"That's enough, Pietro!" Todd said, "normally I'd think puttin' Lance down about Kitty would be good, clean fun, but you've taken it too far, yo!"  
  
"And I ain't doin' anymore work until you start helping, c'mon, guys, let's go to the kitchen, I'm famished," Fred said. The three of them headed for the kitchen, not being to surprised to find Pietro standing in the doorway, blocking their entrance.  
  
"Get outta the way, Pietro!" Fred snapped, "and don't go pulling that 'I'm going to tell my father' stuff, because I'm not scared of him! I'm the Blob, nothing can hurt me!"  
  
"Yeah, but what about Toad, can he say the same thing, huh?" Pietro asked, smiling wickedly, "what one of you does affects the rest... and I don't think you want to see anyone else getting hurt, now do you?" Fred paused for a moment, then frowned looking to Todd, realizing that if he did anything, his frog-like friend would end up really being the one to suffer.  
  
"Fine," he muttered, turning around and going back to work. The others soon followed without verbal complaint. Lance occasionally gave Pietro a cold stare, and as he worked he managed to scoop up some of the debris from the letter, stuffing it in his pocket to see if he could tape it back together later.  
  
"Good," Pietro said, "it's nice to have someone finally listen to what I have to say. Just keep in mind the punishment for not obeying my every word." And that's exactly what the three of them did as they finished cleaning the entire house.  
  
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FIN  
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End file.
